Europe could be defied over prisoner votes, says Chris Grayling

Britain could refuse to implement a European court ruling that would give some
prisoners the vote, the Justice Secretary has suggested.

1:45PM GMT 22 Nov 2012

Parliament is seemingly on a collision course with European judges over prisoner voting after Justice Secretary Chris Grayling insisted it had the power to maintain a ban.

Mr Grayling said a joint committee of both Houses would consider proposals for allowing convicts sentenced to less than four years or less than six months to participate in elections.

But the draft legislation will also feature a proposal for retaining the blanket ban - which would contradict rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Mr Grayling said Parliament could defy the judgment, but had to "confront" the political consequences of such a move.

Mr Grayling, who has vocally opposed giving the right to vote to prisoners, said that following the Scoppola case against the Italian government in 2010, it was ruled an outright ban was not allowed under European law.

But he said it would ultimately be up to MPs which option they would choose to adopt.

The Justice Secretary said: "The Prime Minister has made clear on the record his personal views on this subject. I have done the same and those views have not changed.

"However, the Government is under an international law obligation to implement the court judgment. As Lord Chancellor, as well as Secretary of State for Justice, I take the obligation to uphold the rule of law very seriously.

"Equally, it remains the case that parliament is sovereign and the Human Rights Act explicitly recognises that fact. The current law passed by parliament remains in force unless and until parliament decides to change it.

"As Lord Justice Hoffman put it in a case in 1999, parliamentary sovereignty means that parliament can, if it chooses, legislate contrary to fundamental principles of human rights.

"The Human Rights Act 1998 will not detract from this power. The constraints upon its exercise by parliament are ultimately political not legal but the principle of legality must mean that parliament must squarely confront what it is doing and accept the political cost.